Dow's streak of records ends on rising US-North Korea tensions

President Donald Trump threats against North Korea ended the Dow's streak of nine straight record closes

Tue, Aug 08 2017 CDT

By Agence France-Presse

New York (AFP)

The Dow's winning streak of nine straight records ended Tuesday after President Donald Trump vowed a devastating response to any escalation of North Korea's nuclear program.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," said Trump, who was speaking from his golf club in New Jersey. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Trump's sharp rhetoric tipped US stocks into negative territory after they had earlier climbed on positive economic data. Stocks were mixed elsewhere, with European equities climbing and Tokyo dipping.

The US president's threat came after media reports that North Korea has produced a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside its missiles.

"Investors have had a muted response to each ofPyongyang's 11 ballistic missile tests this year, but today's strong statement from Mr. Trump clearly upped the ante a bit," Briefing.com said.

"Still, today's move was very minor in the grand scheme of things and comes at a time when many investors are looking for an excuse to sell as equities hover near all-time highs."

In Europe, London's commodities-heavy FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip firms stocks ended the day with a 0.1 percent gain.

But mining firms were penalized on the poor trade data from China, which is a top global consumer of many raw materials. The data showed export growth in July came in well below expectations after months of steady momentum.